Cursor Not Working? Here's How to Fix It (2026)

Cursor not working usually comes down to one of four things: a rate limit hit, an indexing failure, an auth/login issue, or a conflict with another VS Code extension. Start by checking the AI pane for an error message. Most issues surface a specific error code that points directly to the fix.

• Rate limits: Fast requests (GPT-4o, Claude) are capped per plan. Hobby users get 2,000 completions/month; Pro users get 500 fast requests then drop to slow.
• Indexing failures: Codebase context silently breaks when the index is stale or over the 100k-file limit.
• Auth errors: Session tokens expire. Signing out and back in resolves most login-wall errors.

Why is Cursor not working?

Cursor breaks in predictable ways. The AI completions stop responding when you've exhausted your fast request quota, when the language server crashes, or when the model backend is degraded. Check cursor.com/status first to rule out a service outage before spending time on local debugging.

Rate limit hit

As of 2026, Cursor's Pro plan includes 500 fast requests per month (GPT-4o, Claude Sonnet). Once exhausted, requests fall back to a slower tier. You'll see a banner in the Chat pane saying "You've used your fast requests." This isn't a bug. It's a quota. You can either wait for the monthly reset or upgrade to a higher plan.

Autocomplete not triggering

If inline completions stop appearing entirely, the most common culprits are:

• Autocomplete is disabled. Check Cursor Settings → Features → Copilot++ → Enable.
• A conflicting extension (e.g., GitHub Copilot, Tabnine) is intercepting the suggestion slot. Disable competing AI extensions.
• The file type is excluded. Check Settings → cursor.cpp.enablePartialAccepts and the excluded language list.

Cursor Chat not responding

When the Chat panel shows a spinner indefinitely or returns nothing, it's almost always one of these:

• Network proxy is blocking the API call. Cursor uses api2.cursor.sh. If you're on a corporate network, whitelist that domain.
• VPN interference. Try toggling your VPN off.
• Model selection set to a model you don't have access to on your plan. Switch to a model tier included in your subscription.

Codebase context (@codebase) not working

The @codebase context feature requires your project to be indexed. Indexing can silently fail on large repos (over ~100k files) or if the .cursorignore is misconfigured. Open the Command Palette → Cursor: Rebuild Index to force a re-index. Progress shows in the status bar.

How to fix Cursor login issues?

Sign out fully via Cursor Settings → Account → Sign Out, then sign back in. If the login loop persists, delete the auth token cache: on macOS, remove ~/Library/Application Support/Cursor/User/globalStorage/. On Linux, clear ~/.config/Cursor/User/globalStorage/. On Windows, remove %APPDATA%\Cursor\User\globalStorage\. Restart Cursor after clearing the cache.

Why is Cursor slow?

Cursor can feel sluggish for two distinct reasons: slow AI inference (a backend/quota issue) and slow editor performance (a local issue). They need different fixes.

Slow AI completions

If you've used your 500 monthly fast requests on Pro, Cursor falls back to a slower model queue. The fix is to either wait for your monthly reset or switch to a different available model in Chat settings. Fast request usage is visible in your Cursor account dashboard.

Slow editor or high CPU

Large workspaces with deep node_modules or build artifacts degrade both indexing and editor performance. Add a .cursorignore file (same syntax as .gitignore) excluding node_modules, .next, dist, and similar directories. This directly reduces indexing overhead and memory pressure.

Do extensions cause Cursor to break?

Yes. Cursor is built on VS Code, so the full extension marketplace is available, but AI-adjacent extensions (GitHub Copilot, Codeium, Tabnine, Amazon Q) compete for the same suggestion API surface. Running multiple AI code assistants simultaneously reliably causes blank completions, broken inline suggestions, and performance degradation. Disable all other AI extensions and restart to isolate the issue.

What should I use if Cursor keeps breaking?

If Cursor's reliability or quota limits are a recurring problem, the alternatives most developers switch to are Claude Code (terminal-native, no GUI), Windsurf (VS Code fork with a different model mix), or GitHub Copilot (deep IDE integration, Microsoft-backed SLA). Each has different rate limit structures and use cases.

Tool	Fast request limit	Free tier	Best for
Cursor Pro	500 fast/month	2,000 completions	GUI-first teams on VS Code
Claude Code	Usage-based (5-hr window)	No free tier	Agentic terminal workflows
Windsurf	Flows-based model	Yes	Cascade-style agentic editing
Copilot	Generous / uncapped completions	Limited free tier	Broad IDE coverage

For a detailed breakdown, see Cursor vs Windsurf (2026) and Cursor vs Copilot.

When does Cursor usage reset?

Cursor fast request quotas reset monthly on your billing anniversary date, not on a fixed calendar day. You can check the reset date in Cursor Settings → Account. If you're on the free Hobby plan, the 2,000 completion limit also resets monthly. There is no weekly or daily sub-limit. If you consistently hit the ceiling, see Claude Code vs Cursor pricing for a cost-per-request comparison before upgrading.

Cursor not working: quick diagnostic checklist

1. Check cursor.com/status for active incidents.
2. Open the Chat pane. Read the exact error message (rate limit, auth, timeout).
3. Sign out and sign back in if you see any auth error.
4. Disable all other AI extensions (Copilot, Codeium, Tabnine).
5. Run Cursor: Rebuild Index if @codebase context is broken.
6. Add a .cursorignore excluding large directories if performance is slow.
7. Check your fast request quota in account settings if completions stopped.
8. Toggle VPN off and test if Chat responses resume.

Related reading

• Windsurf or Cursor for coding
• Should I use Kiro or Cursor?
• Claude Code not working
• Poke vs Cursor